Toti Gomes scored the only goal of the game to help Wolves produce one of the narrow football scores of the weekend in the Premier League. Toti Gomes’ early header over Emiliano Martinez allowed Wolves to hang on and win – their sixth win at Molineux without giving up a goal in nine games. At the final whistle, Julen Lopetegui and his staff celebrated the derby victory in joyful circumstances. Aston Villa struggled against tenacious competition and missed their best opportunity of the game when Tyrone Mings missed a close-range shot late in the game. The points were crucial for Aston Villa as they look to ensure European football at Villa Park next season. Wolves now have 40 points, which puts them ahead of Bournemouth and into 13th place overall in the Premier League standings.
The reactivated Toti headed in Ruben Neves’ right-wing corner as Wolves launched their opening assault, giving Aston Villa the lead they would have expected from a club that had won 10 of their previous 11 games. Ollie Watkins had the finest chance to tie the score as Villa pushed and prodded for the remainder of the half; his powerful header from Jacob Ramsey’s cross was sent directly at Jose Sa. To stop Emi Buendia, the Wolves custodian made a superb save.
At the other end, Matheus Cunha’s attempt to score kept the home crowd excited as Lopetegui’s men consistently tested Villa’s high line. However, Villa pushing and Wolves seeking for the counterattack set the tone for the second half. They found it right immediately when Diego Costa was set up by the outstanding Pedro Neto in the left channel, but Martinez blocked his attempt. When Mings had a volleyed opportunity from six yards out but missed the crossbar, that nearly cost Wolves the game. Villa, though, were unable to make anything really distinct since they were restricted room to the rear. Their prospects of making it to Europe suddenly seem slimmer as Tottenham won.
This was yet another superb performance in front of their own fans that helps to explain why there is so much optimism surrounding Lopetegui at Molineux despite the fact that Wolves looked like they were on the beach against Brighton when they were defeated 6-0 last Saturday. No club in the Premier League has maintained more clean sheets at home this year, which is remarkable considering they were last at Christmas. At this point, Molineux had won seven out of the last nine games, all by scores of 0—0. It has kept them awake.
Since just two Wolves players have scored more than twice this season—Neves and Daniel Podence, who have each scored six goals—there was concern that Lopetegui lacked the firepower to maintain Wolves in the Premier League. However, they have been able to make up for it by exerting enough effort and industry to hold on to these slim victories. Despite just scoring once all season, Diego Costa embodies that mentality with his work ethic. Pedro Neto had the same drive when playing Aston Villa. Unai Emery has earned a lot of credit for turning around Villa’s situation and moving them seven spots up the Premier League standings. However, another Basque manager who works in the Midlands has followed in his footsteps.
“Important points that helped us reach our final 40 points. Though not mathematically, we are very near to accomplishing our goal, and we are quite thrilled for the club and the supporters,” Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui said. “For many reasons, this year has been quite difficult. Four points separated us from the following [safe] team after 15 games when we got here in December with 10 points and were at the bottom of the standings. It was a very awful circumstance. I had a significant hurdle at the time. More challenging than winning the Europa League and more challenging than getting Sevilla to the Champions League three times in a row, in my opinion, is my most difficult coaching accomplishment.”
“We performed better than in some of our previous victories. Of course, we have to be clinical. We made an effort to stick to the game plan, progressing with passes to break up the high press and into the box, taking corners and creating opportunities,” Aston Villa boss Unai Emery said. “We behaved like we would like to be played in the first half, and I told the team as much. The rhythm deteriorated as they tried to pass the time in the second half. Our first-half performance was not at its best. It was more challenging.”
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